Israel Slashes Fuel Tax, Gasoline Prices to Drop

The Israeli government has approved a reduction in gasoline prices, bringing the cost down by 50 agorot per liter. The price will decrease from 8.27 shekels to 7.77 shekels per liter, with the change taking effect at midnight on Sunday. This reduction was enacted through a decision by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to lower the excise tax on fuel to 2.73 shekels per liter, as reported by the Calcalist newspaper. This marks the second consecutive price cut initiated by Smotrich, following a tax reduction implemented in early September. The current reduction is set to last for one month, until the end of October. The Ministry of Finance had published the decision on Thursday evening, allowing the public three days to submit feedback, which concluded on Sunday at 2 PM. Smotrich is expected to sign the decision after reviewing the submitted comments, leading to the updated gasoline price at stations by midnight Sunday-Monday. Earlier in the month, gasoline prices had risen by 6.7%, reaching a record high of 8.27 shekels per liter. According to Ministry of Finance estimates, without the recent tax reductions, the excise tax would have been approximately 3.65 shekels per liter, and the gasoline price would have reached about 8.77 shekels.